Two experiences show need for more kidney donors

December 09, 2013|By Milton D. Carrero, Of The Morning Call

I recently spoke with kidney transplant recipients who have struggled to make the most of their second chance at life.

One is Vickie Dash, a two-time kidney transplant recipient from Zion Grove, Schuylkill County, who has documented her struggles with kidney disease through artistic collages. The other, Larry Rafes, is an Allentown salesman who received a kidney transplant three years ago.

Rafes used to become fatigued after a few steps. A year and a half after receiving the new organ, he made a 200-mile kayaking trip from Easton to Cape May, N.J.

He had spent a year on dialysis before the transplant. It wasn't something he wanted to relive, but this week he begins dialysis once more. The kidney, transplanted three years ago, is starting to fail.

"I don't have the stamina that I did," Rafes says.

Dash's second transplant came more than two decades after the first. She went through dialysis a second time, but only for two months before a matching kidney became available. She was fortunate because the need for organs far exceeds the donor pool. There are 350 people on Lehigh Valley Hospital's transplant waiting list.

Rafes will undergo dialysis three times a week until a new kidney becomes available. "Until I pass away or get a transplant," he says matter of factly.

Rafes and Dash will be at South Whitehall's Temple Beth El in January. They will speak about their experiences as transplant recipients, and may motivate more people to be listed as organ donors on their driver's license.